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Not much was expected from the Memphis Grizzlies during their play-in tournament matchup against the Golden State Warriors. The Grizzlies have not been able to beat a quality team for months now, and they lost what was once a strong hold on a top-four spot in the West and free fell all the way to the play-in. But they gave the Warriors a scare even as they suffered a 121-116 loss in the end.
In fact, the Grizzlies had an opportunity to complicate matters even further for the Warriors. Down by just three, 119-116, the Grizzlies still had a chance to tie the game. Instead, Santi Aldama couldn't get the ball inbounded in time and Stephen Curry iced the game with two free throws on the very next possession.
Steph Curry and the Warriors force a 5 second violation 🤯
The Grizzlies don't even get a shot off down only 3 points with 5.4 seconds remaining!pic.twitter.com/MSE4Dsb8yT
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 16, 2025
This is a heartbreaking ending to what was a valiant effort from the Grizzlies, and fans on social media expressed their disappointment over such an anticlimactic ending to a back-and-forth game that had Memphis coming back from a 20-point deficit to threaten the Warriors. And it was Aldama who bore the brunt of the fans' frustrations on social media.
“I do not like Santi Aldama bruh 😂 ion even know if that was his fault but I'm blaming him,” X user @JayPayne_32 wrote.
“If we don’t make the playoffs, blame Aldama,” @Yessirshorts added.
“Santi Aldama stinks lol. How do you not get the ball in. Just throw it in and hope something good happens at the very least instead of just handing it back to your opponent. My goodness,” @thatbigboi_D furthered.
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While the best-case scenario for the Grizzlies had Aldama actually managed to inbound the ball was a tie ballgame, Memphis would have had an advantage over the Warriors considering that Draymond Green had already fouled out. But that simply was not to be as the Grizzlies lose in regulation in heartbreaking fashion. The hope now is that this doesn't cause any dust-up between Aldama and Desmond Bane, as they have a history of butting heads when things go awry.
Grizzlies simply cannot execute late in play-in loss vs. Warriors
The entire arena knew who the ball was going to with the Grizzlies having a chance to tie the game late against the Warriors. Desmond Bane played well all night long, scoring 30 points on 11-21 shooting from the field, and he was his team's best scoring option on the night, making giving the ball to him a no-brainer.
This was the play design that Tuomas Iisalo had, as per Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal, but Santi Aldama wasn't able to execute and couldn't get the ball inbounded in time. The Grizzlies will now look forward to facing whichever of the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks triumph in tomorrow's play-in game.
